Frugality in Practice: Do-it-Yourself Home Maintenance

I hate plumbing. Whenever a faucet begins to leak or a drain clogs, my stomach sinks. I know it means hours of frustrating work. It's not that plumbing is difficult — it's just that I'm not well-versed in the ways of home-improvement. Somehow I missed that part of Manhood Training.

Despite my apprehension, over thirteen years of homeownership, I've made it a point to do as much repair work as I'm able. It has saved me a lot of money. And while I'm a ball of nerves going into a project, I get tremendous satisfaction when I finish something and know that I did the work with my own hands.

Yesterday we woke to find water on the floor of the upstairs bathroom. When we couldn't immediately locate the source of the leak, we debated calling a plumber. Because it was the weekend, and because we're trying to save money, Kris and I decided to tackle the problem as a team. While she buried herself in the Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual, I took the toilet apart. Ultimately we diagnosed the likely culprit: corroded fasteners connecting the tank of the toilet to the bowl. We drove to the hardware store, picked up replacement parts, and then put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

We were able to repair our toilet for $6.49 and an hour of time. Had we called in a plumber, it would have cost much more. This is how home repairs usually seem to play out for us: some initial frustration, a Eureka! moment, a trip the hardware store for a $10-$20 part, and then a final repair.

Here are some things we've learned when dealing with home repairs:

Don't panic. A zen-like state is important for repair work. I don't mean this in any mystical sense, but it's helpful to be calm and relaxed when doing this sort of thing. Rash actions can turn a small problem into a disaster.

Act quickly. Don't put off repairs. While you don't want to charge blindly ahead, you do want to take care of the problem as soon as possible. We once put off fixing a small leak in the roof. You can guess how that ended during a rainy Oregon winter.

Use a reference. Google is your friend. We've found lots of answers on the internet. As I mentioned above, though, Kris and I find it convenient to have a book on hand. In 1994, we paid about 20 bucks for a copy of the Readers Digest Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual. The book has literally saved us hundreds of dollars.

Work methodically. When you take something apart, neatly set the pieces someplace safe. Label them, if appropriate. Be orderly. Follow instructions. Measure twice, cut once. If you have a digital camera handy, take pictures of how things were assembled before you dismantled them. These sorts of careful steps make repair work run smoothly.

Don't make assumptions. Some of my most frustrating do-it-yourself experiences have come when I've made assumptions about a problem, only to be proven wrong. Here's an example from my days as a computer consultant: I once spent several hours trying to fix a software problem that had caused a printer to stop working. As it turned out, it wasn't a software problem at all — the power cord had gone bad. Boy did I feel stupid. Don't assume things.

Pay attention. As you work, try to notice details. You never can tell what piece of information will be important. Are the electrical outlets you're replacing two-prong or three-prong? How big were the screws on that gizmo, anyhow?

Be safe. Some tasks are dangerous. Electricity can kill you. So can a chainsaw. I have a friend who accidentally wired his outside power for 220 instead of 110. The first time he plugged in his Christmas lights, it was like the fourth of July! When one of our trees fell into the neighbor's yard, I had my first experience with a chainsaw. I learned quickly that even a small tree has a great deal of mass.

Know when to call in an expert. Not everyone can fix every problem, of course. Some things do require a specialist. But there are many nuisances around the home that can be solved with patience, research, and elbow grease. Don't be intimidated by replacing a light fixture or a garbage disposal. But call an electrician to replace the knob-and-tube wiring in your attic.

Home-improvement can be intimidating if you don't have much experience with it. But with time, you can develop the confidence and the basic skills necessary to perform many common household repairs. If you're interested in developing further competence, take classes from your local community college, or attend seminars at a home-improvement store. (I've also learned a lot by shadowing contractors as they work on our home. I always ask permission first, though. Some are happy to explain what they're doing, but others are nervous to have an observer.)

Next on my home repair agenda: Diagnosing why the light in our guest room sometimes switches on, but mostly doesn't.

In 2006, J.D. founded Get Rich Slowly to document his quest to get out of debt. Over time, he learned how to save and how to invest. Today, he's managed to reach early retirement! He wants to help you master your money — and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you reach your goals.

Plumbing makes me tense. I can’t even begin to convey how much I loathe it. And yet I always come out okay in the end. I wanted to share more examples of how repairing things myself has saved money, but the post was running long. Instead, I’ve decided to tuck them here in the comments:

* When we moved into our current home, the electrical outlets downstairs were in bad shape. The old guy who owned the home before us had wired them himself, and had done a poor job. Many were not grounded. The polarity was reversed at one receptacle (death to computers). Instead of calling in an electrician, I enlisted the help of a friend who had done electrical work in the past. He taught me how to rewire the outlets correctly.

*For years at our old house, we lived with light fixtures we hated. We never bothered to anything about them, though, because we figured it would be too expensive to hire somebody to replace them. It probably would have been. But when it came time to sell the house, I suddenly found the inspiration to replace the fixtures myself. It was easy! Since moving to this house, I’ve replaced three fixtures, and will soon replace a fourth.

* After a heavy rain in January 2006, a windstorm blew one of our trees into the neighbor’s yard. Nothing was damaged, but there was the problem of the tree. I could have paid $200 for somebody to come remove the tree for me, but instead I opted to do it myself. When I realized that using my axe to do the job was going to take days, I purchased a chainsaw. For less money than it would have cost to hire somebody for the job, I was able to do the work myself and now have a chainsaw.

* A toilet in my brother’s house developed a problem: the water ran constantly at a very low level. He went to the phonebook to call a plumber, but before he could dial, he stopped. “Rather than pay somebody else to fix this, I wonder if I could do it myself,” he thought. He opened the tank and saw that a valve seal was loose, and that it was source of the problem. He found a part number for the valve seal, went to the hardware store, picked up a new one, and replaced the old one. This simple fix cost him just $1.69 and half an hour of time.

* At 7 p.m. on the night before we were scheduled to leave for vacation (in August 2004), the hot water faucet gave out on our bathroom sink. The water ran constantly. Obviously, this wasn’t something that could wait until we returned from vacation. I grabbed my trusty Readers Digest Do-It-Yourself Manual, removed the faucet assembly, and took it with me to the hardware store. An employee helped me find a replacement, gave me some advice, and sent me on my way. It took me several frustrating hours to complete the repair, but by midnight, the faucet was working again.

As I say, DIY stuff can give you a great sense of accomplishment even while it’s saving you money.

J.D. I think a lot of people are surprised when they find out how much money they can save by doing little repairs around the house. And many times, the problem is an easy fix – but like you said, you just have to know where to look and be in the right frame of mind.

And don’t worry, I think most people in our generation missed that class. But at least a lot of people are smart enough to go back to school! ;)

My dad has helped us fix a lot of things around the house (with my husbands help so he could learn how to do these things on his own someday). Dad had to learn how to do all these things on his own through trial and error too. They just repaired some split boards on our deck actually. However, we currently have a pipe in our attic that vents outside that is leaking. The seal around it has disintegrated and water is running down the sides of the pipe and we now have a water spot on our ceiling in the master bedroom. This seems like it should be a fairly easy do it yourself repair. However, both my husband and I are deathly afraid of heights and won’t be going on the roof anytime soon. So, this is when we call in the reliable handy man we found a few years ago. He is reasonably cheap and very reliable. And, it is best to get this fixed before we start getting rain again.

Next time we need a deck board replaced or a light fixture switched out through, we are all over it.

Years ago, 40 to be exact,as a wedding gift a friend gave us a Better Homes & Garden DIY Repair book – and it has saved us lots & lots of money over the years. We liked the book so much we gave it as graduation from college & wedding gifts with perhaps the addition of a few tools. Everyone, after using the book once, told us how grateful they were for that particular gift.

Because we live in an old house, I think a lot about this subject. I realize that I forgot an important caveat: don’t be too cheap.

The old man that lived here before us was beyond frugal. He was cheap. He did all of the work himself, no matter what it was, even if he didn’t know what he was doing. That’s one of the reason the house has so many problems. We’ll have contractors come over to work on things beyond our ken (like replacing the electrical panel), and they’re just in awe of how poorly things have been done.

Do yourself one better when DIY’ing around the house: if you can get an estimate (or at least the hourly charges) for a professional, “pay yourself” the same amount and put it away in a savings account.

Not only will it help you realize just how much you’re saving by purchasing parts and doing it yourself, but after not too long, you’ll have a nice sized fund to celebrate with (or pay for a real professional if a job gets too big).

“I once spent several hours trying to fix a software problem that had caused a printer to stop working. As it turned out, it wasn’t a software problem at all – the power cord had gone bad. Boy did I feel stupid. Don’t assume things.”

ME TOO!! Not once but twice. The first time it was a bad power cord. The second time it was a power cord that was not COMPLETELY, and I mean COMPLETELY plugged in. On my printer there is a little green light on the cord itself–if that light is not lit, the cord isn’t plugged in. And the computer won’t be able to locate theh printer. I didn’t spend any money, only valuable time.

My wife gave me the BH&G “Big Book of Home How-To” when we moved into our first house. The book covers a mix of beginning and advanced topics. For the more advanced topics (like tiling) I usually get a book concentrating on that topic, but for most quick fixes and small projects the Big Book has more then enough information and illustrations.

I even tackled adding a recessed light over our shower a couple of weeks ago. Using the book I was able to determine what parts to buy and how to install the light safely and to code.

I was one of two daughters, and Dad taught us to do damn near everything around the house because we were the only help he had in trying to keep a 150-year-old farm house in workable shape. My husband didn’t get the same sort of “manliness” education, so I have to take the lead on projects, but hey, at least there’s one of us. It’s not really about the skills Dad taught us, but about basic mechanical and electrical principles, and that zen-like state you mention–assuming from the beginning that there’s nothing magical about the problem, and if you inspect and think about it a little bit, you’ll most likely figure out what’s wrong, and how to fix it.

I always thought that if you buy an old house, you’d better tear it down to the studs and redo everything correctly – hiring professionals is simply more costly than you will ever get out of the house. My boyfriend finally go inspiration to finish his house (actually we pretty much redid everything, even some of the subfloor:http://kathyandcalvin.com/kitchen-progress

But it was well worth it. If you figure hourly wage, it is probably pretty low for how much extra we will get in selling the house. But I figure it is cheap compared to a monthly gym membership or just rotting in front of a TV. We enjoy working on the house. I am currently sanding, pre-staining, staining, and putting on 4 coats of polyurethane on all the upper cabinets, doors, and drawer fronts while he finishes up making lots of cabinet doors and drawers.

In other words, if you work on your own house, you get to know it pretty well. You find all the weaknesses and strengths and can plan better if you want to renovate or expand. Yeah, you might ruin a few shirts and jeans but in the end it’s worth it.

We sometimes laugh about the people that say they are remodeling their house. That usually means they are hiring folks to remodel, not doing the work themselves.

What ever happened to pride of ownership? Getting your hands dirty? And what about learning and passing on life skills such as general carpentry?

I’m all for self reliance on home improvements. That’s probably how I ended up in my pajamas, holding a wrench, covered in mud last week… anyway…

I draw the line at electrical. I’ll install a new ceiling fan or replace a thermostat, but, remember that electricity can be dangerous. I lost an uncle to a home repair electrical accident. To be fair, the electricity didn’t actually kill him; the fall from the ladder did, but my point is the same. Be careful!

I know you have probably mentioned this elsewhere but this same DIY mentality can and should be applied to other tasks that we sometimes in our haste to live our lives turn over to others. Car repair comes to mind.

For all of its customer service failings, The Home Depot publishes some great how-to guides. As an all-in-one reference, the Home 1-2-3 book has helped me with everything from installing a new kitchen counter to replacing electrical outlets. I can’t imagine how much I would’ve paid to have a professional do all of that work.

That said, try and at least have a cursory understanding of national, state and local codes. The last thing you want to do is save money yourself and end up doing it wrong. The previous “do it yourself” guy that owned our house seemed to think that ground wires were optional… on kitchen counter outlets. Ouch.

This is one of my favorite articles on GRS yet.
I think the point is, no one was ever taught the man-skills. It just seems that people of my parent’s generation taught themselves how to be manly by, as mentioned above, trial and error.
Whether it needed to be or not, my house became my own fixer-upper. There have been a few projects that scared the heck out of me going in (ceramic tiling comes to mind) but in the age of the internet and diy books everywhere, it just takes a little research time and a willingness to give it a try.
I’ve been lucky having in-laws living close enough that are always willing to help show me how to do things such as plumbing, etc (even late at night in the event that I, ahem, screw through a water line). I don’t think I would have finished a fraction of my remodelling projects if I had just paid contractors for every one of them. And I have to say, the work usually turns out pretty well.
Then again, I consider this my “trial” house so that I know how to do things better on the next one…

“At 7 p.m. on the night before we were scheduled to leave for vacation (in August 2004), the hot water faucet gave out on our bathroom sink. The water ran constantly. Obviously, this wasn’t something that could wait until we returned from vacation.”

I think this problem actually could have waited until you got back. On the outside of your house should be a main water shutoff valve. My dad always had us turn this off any time we went somewhere for an extended period of time. Just imagine if a leak had occurred while you were gone, you could come home to a flooded house or a very large water bill!

This valve should be closed any time you are doing work on the plumbing too.

Also, when working with electricity, don’t forget that the circuit breakers provide the same kind of protection.

I really think people underestimate how dangerous electricity is. Even installing a light fixture or receptacle incorrectly can have deadly consequences. I actually just finished a course today going over all the new standards many companies are making contractors follow when they come and do electrical work. All of the test videos showing how major even a small error could be. This was also accentuated by some video and photos of serious injuries caused by what are normally minor issues.

I love DIY as much as the next person but safety should be your #1 concern

I have fond memories of reading an old copy of the Readers’ Digest DIY Manual when I was little and bored. I still can’t do any home repairs but I think that is where I developed my fondness for reading manuals.

Thanks, I enjoyed reading this. I, too, am a reluctant but satisfied do-it-yourselfer. I just finished spiffing up my bathroom — less than $500 and I get a bathroom that looks like a several thousand dollar remodel.

I’ve been chronicling our home improvement process in my own blog. Come check us out sometime!

Loved the reference to your wife’s using the Reader’s Digest book of Repair. I have three or four of them, and I have saved much money and grief when I read (not making assumptions) first and repaired later.

Is there something like this for cars? I have the Chilton’s guide for each of our cars, but would like a more braindead “This is how the car works, and when it does this bad thing, you should check $foo”

Ah! the education of learning the mistakes of others. I bought a 1947(?) shotgun house in a very rural area. The basic structure is well made, good and true wood,I must buy 2 x 6 to repace a 2 x 4, the house was built from wood on the property Inheritance and a repair impaired one tried to modify the home was ill prepared. I have had to learn how to jack up the roof so the top plate can be replaced, the wiring is – who knows. I will call on a licensed friend to rewire, I can replace any fixture – but rewiring the whole shebam – nah, I don’t think so. I have ptu in a drainfield for the kitchen, replaced and installed drywall, I have saved much money, but have spent more than I thought possible, My saving has been decimated, I under estimated what it would take to restore. So now I wait. saving, to do what I need to do. I no longer have high aspirations of a sweet country home, but a working, functional anf=d well constructed home, – the lessons we learn.

When we hear the term home security, alarms are what we might think of first. Whether wired or wireless, home security alarm systems are a major deterrent for criminals. They monitor points of entry, such as doors and windows, or they monitor for motion when the home should be empty.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

My name is J.D. Roth. I started Get Rich Slowly in 2006 to document my personal journey as I dug out of debt. Then I shared while I learned to save and invest. Twelve years later, I've managed to reach early retirement! I'm here to help you master your money — and your life. No scams. No gimmicks. Just smart money advice to help you get rich slowly. Read more.

If you like this website, you should check out the year-long Get Rich Slowly course. It contains everything I've learned about saving and investing during 12 years of writing about money. Buy it here.

General Disclaimer: Get Rich Slowly is an independent website managed by J.D. Roth, who is not a trained financial expert. His knowledge comes from the school of hard knocks. He does his best to provide accurate, useful info, but makes no guarantee that all readers will achieve the same level of success. If you have questions, consult a trained professional.

Advertising Disclosure: Some offers on this page may promote affiliates, which means GRS earns a commission if you purchase products or services through the links provided. All opinions expressed here are the author's and not of any other entity. The content at Get Rich Slowly has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by any entity mentioned at the site. For additional information, please review our full advertising disclosure.